[quote]Peck stared, bewildered, at the young woman that until a moment ago he had thought was on the brink of death, who now sprang into a new purpose with all the fierce energy he had come to expect of her. He scrambled to his feet, his mind struggling to keep up, and stumbled after Anise. "What, wait! Free who? The Riders are out there, they'll have questions!"[/quote]

Anise grinned as she stepped out of the tent. "The Lady of Light! Come on!"

Anise halted briefly as she saw the terrible presence of the Dragon. It was so tragic that she was in such a bad state. Anise could only feel worried for her madness. This was all the Lord of Shadow's fault. He had corrupted her body so that when her spirit returned she would be consumed by madness. Hope still lived though and it burned brighter than before now that she bore the light of the Lady of Light along with her own.

Something about the combination of the Lady of the Pond's rune along with the Lady of Light's gave her a sense of absolute calm and certainty. Now that she had seen the Dragon consume another Lantern and assume the illusion of her proper form she imagined it would be a while to completely reincorporate its power. This gave Anise time. Precious time needed to save the Dragon.

[quote]Peck took a few deep breaths, and he made a decision. He grabbed Anise and led her along the cliff to a stairway down the cliff's face. "There's a faster way to the Lake," he explained, with no room for argument. He brought her into a shallow cave filled with straw, where the gryphons were housed. He went to a dappled beast and quickly strapped a saddle to it. "C'mon, Doreli," he encouraged the gryphon, who moved with the stiffness of age, "show us that speed of yours."[/quote]

Anise blushed as Peck grabbed her by the wrist and led her to a gryphon cave. There had only ever been two men in her life to touch her before she came to the Forest: her father and the priest that christened her. Her fiance had never seen her much less had the chance to touch her. The upcoming Riverforde Ball was supposed to be their first meeting since their engagement. At this point, she felt she preferred the touch of Peck over a stranger that she had never seen before.

[i]Had she fallen in love with Peck?[/i] The thought startled her. They had certainly been through a lot over the last few days. She certainly respected him greatly. Not to mention the several times they had risked their lives for each other. She mounted the gryphon and held onto him while these thoughts were suddenly whisked away by the absolute exhilaration of flight. 

They soared to their destination in great style and Anise found herself giggling with joy as the approached the Lake. She never would have experienced the wonder of flight had it not been for the Dragon. This only gave Anise more reason to save her.

Anise slipped out of her shoes as she approached the water. She moved forward slicing through the tension with a focused expression on her face. She stepped into the water until her feet were completely submerged before looking back at Peck. "There is a beast within the water. I believe it is the protector of the Lady of Light's prison." She faced the Lake. "I will overcome it like I have everything else." She concentrated on the Rune of Light and created motes of light to send them ahead to lead the way towards the stone coffin. Then she fully submerged herself and used the Rune of Water to propel herself swiftly towards the Lady of Light's prison.

She was prepared to defend herself against the serpent of the Lake with all of her power.